The Family Arsenal - Softcover

Theroux, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141049863 ISBN 13: 9780141049861

Publisher: Penguin, 2010

Synopsis

The Family Arsenal is a darkly comic novel of warped morals and disillusionment in South London by the award-winning writer Paul Theroux.

In South London terrorists plot. . .

Hood, a renegade American diplomat, envisions a new urban order in the opium for of his room. He flirts with terrorists, hoping to win their trust and respect. Mayo, his sometime bedmate, has just made a political statement - stealing a Flemish painting and negotiating publicity over this act with The Times. Murf the bomb-maker leaves his mark in red, scrawling 'Arsenal Rule' across half the city's walls, whilst his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Brodie, bombs Euston and afterwards worries about her complexion.

A novel of London lowlife and the dispossessed, and a powerful and violent thriller of disenchanted people.

'A pleasure. . . with Theroux the thrills are never cheap and obvious' Guardian

'One of the most evocative, intelligently crafted suspense novels in years - like the early fiction of Graham Greene. . . London has rarely looked dingier or more sinister...an assured success' The New York Times

'Brilliant and haunting. . . the ingenious of the plot, the London setting. . . the trapped and interwoven people, and the balefully witty observation, have an undistracted force' Observer

American travel writer Paul Theroux is known for the rich descriptions of people and places that is often streaked with his distinctive sense of irony; his novels and collected short stories, My Other Life, The Collected Stories, My Secret History, The Lower River, The Stranger at the Palazzo d'Oro, A Dead Hand, Millroy the Magician, The Elephanta Suite, Saint Jack, The Consul's File, The Mosquito Coast, and his works of non-fiction, including the iconic The Great Railway Bazaar are available from Penguin.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In South London terrorists plot . . .

Hood, a renegade American diplomat, envisions a new urban order in the opium fog of his room. He flirts with terrorists, hoping to win their trust and respect. Mayo, his sometime bedmate, has just made a political statement - stealing a Flemish painting and negotiating publicity over this act with The Times. Murf the bomb-maker leaves his mark in red, scrawling 'Arsenal Rule' across half the city's walls, whilst his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Brodie, bombs Euston and afterwards worries about her complexion.

A novel of London lowlife and the dispossessed, and a powerful and violent thriller of disenchanted people.

'A pleasure ... with Theroux the thrills are never cheap and obvious' Guardian

'One of the most evocative, intelligently crafted suspense novels in years - like the early fiction of Graham Greene ... London has rarely looked dingier or more sinister ... an assured success' New York Times

'Brilliant and haunting ... the ingenuities of the plot, the London setting ... the trapped and interwoven people, and the balefully witty observation, have an undistracted force' Observer

[Thumbnails of other novels]

About the Author:

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0141049863
• ISBN 13: 9780141049861
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304